The second
Rowan,
destroyer No.
64, was laid
down on 10 May
1915 by the Fore
River
Shipbuilding
Co., Quincy,
Mass.; launched
23 March 1916;
sponsored by
Miss Louise McL.
Ayres,
great-niece of
Vice Admiral
Rowan; and
commissioned at
Boston on 22
August 1916, Lt.
William R.
Purnell in
command.

Following shakedown, Rowan,
based at Newport, R.I., operated
along the Atlantic coast during
the fall of 1916, then
participated in winter exercises
in the Caribbean and the Gulf of
Mexico. At Norfolk, when the
United States entered World War
I, she patrolled off the mouth
of the York River, then repaired
at New York. On 7 May 1917, she
departed Boston for Ireland,
arriving with Division 7 at
Queenstown on the 27th.

From
then, through the remainder of
the war, Rowan conducted
antisubmarine patrols and
escorted convoys to both British
and French ports. On 28 May
1918, she joined two other
destroyers in attacking a
U-boat; dropped 14 depth
charges; and had the
satisfaction of watching oil
cover the surface in the attack
area.

Rowan departed Queenstown on
26 December 1918 and reached New
York on 8 January 1919. Into the
summer, she conducted exercises
along the east coast and in the
Caribbean. On 29 August, she
entered the Philadelphia Navy
Yard and was placed in reduced
commission.

Designated DD-64 the following
summer, 1920, Rowan
resumed operations with the
Atlantic Fleet in March 1921 and
continued with them until March
1922. She then returned to
Philadelphia where she was
decommissioned on 19 June 1922.
She remained inactive, laid up
at League Island, until struck
from the Navy list on 7 January
1936. Her hulk was sold for
scrap on 20 April 1939.